ANNAPOLIS, Maryland —Police said the shooting at a Maryland newspaper office that killed five people was a “targeted attack on The Capital Gazette.”

Bill Krampf is the acting police chief for Anne Arundel County. In a news conference Thursday at 5 p.m. PDT, he said a white male in his late 30s has been arrested in connection with the shooting at The Capital.

A law enforcement official not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name said the suspect in the shooting has been identified as Jarrod W. Ramos.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to share details.

Krampf said the shooter used canisters of smoke grenades when he entered.

In addition to the five deaths, he said, two people were injured. He described the injuries as superficial.

The five were identified as Wendi Winters, special publications editor; John McNamara, a writer; Gerald Fischman, editorial page editor; Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant; and Robert Hiassen, an assistant editor and columnist.

Carl Hiaasen says on his Facebook page he is “devastated and heartsick” to confirm the loss of his brother in Thursday’s shooting at The Capital Gazette offices. He recalls his brother as “one of the most gentle and funny people I’ve ever known” who had a “gifted career as a journalist.”

The Miami Herald reported that Hiaasen was a warm and witty voice in the media world.

Rob Hiassen was 59. He had worked as a columnist and editor for The Capital for several years but kept up lifelong connections to Florida, where he grew up and worked previously for the Palm Beach Post.

Phil Davis, a reporter who covers courts and crime for the paper, tweeted that the gunman shot out the glass door to the office and fired into the newsroom, sending people scrambling for cover under desks.

“A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead,” he wrote.

Davis added: “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”

Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.

The gunman was believed to have used a shotgun, according to a U.S. official who was briefed on the investigation but not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The gunman was not carrying any identification, authorities said.

“The shooter has not been very forthcoming, so we don’t have any information yet on motive,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said. “To my knowledge, there was no verbal aspect to the incident where he declared his motives or anything else, so at this point we just don’t know.”

The attacker had mutilated his fingers in an apparent attempt to make it harder to identify him, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said investigators still managed to identify him through facial recognition.

Krampf disputed this at the 5 p.m. news conference, saying the police had no information about fingerprints or facial recognition technology in connection with the case.

Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Ryan Frashure had told an earlier news conference that police recovered what they believe to be an explosive device from the building housing newspapers’ offices. Krampf said the “device” comprised the canisters of smoke grenades.

He said the device “was taken care of,” but didn’t elaborate. He says authorities don’t believe there are any other explosives at the site.

At least two hospitals said they received three patients, two of them with minor injuries not caused by gunshots.

People could be seen leaving the building with their hands up as police cars and other emergency vehicles converged on the scene. About 170 people in all were evacuated from the building, police said.

In an interview with The Capital Gazette’s online site, Davis said it “was like a war zone” inside the newspaper’s offices — a situation that would be “hard to describe for a while.”

“I’m a police reporter. I write about this stuff — not necessarily to this extent, but shootings and death — all the time,” he said. “But as much as I’m going to try to articulate how traumatizing it is to be hiding under your desk, you don’t know until you’re there and you feel helpless.”

Davis told the paper he and others were still hiding under their desks when the shooter stopped firing. “I don’t know why. I don’t know why he stopped,” he said.

A gas station employee near the shooting scene described a flood of police activity in the area as he sat tight inside his still-open workplace.

Maryland police officers patrol the area after multiple people were shot at a newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Maryland police officers block the intersection at the building entrance, after multiple people were shot at a newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Police secure the scene of a shooting in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. A single shooter killed several people Thursday and wounded others at a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, and police said a suspect was in custody. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Maryland police officers patrol the area after multiple people were shot at at The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The 888 Bestgate Road building is seen after police received reports of multiple people being shot at The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Maryland Police Lt. Ryan Frashure speaks to the media at the scene after multiple people were shot at a newspaper office building in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Police secure the scene of a shooting at a newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Authorities stage at the building entrance after multiple people were shot at The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Police secure the scene of a shooting at the building housing The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley speaks with reporters near the scene of a shooting in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. A gunman opened fire at a newspaper office in Annapolis on Thursday, killing several people and wounding several others before being taken into custody. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Police officers walk at the scene after multiple people were shot at a newspaper’s office building in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. A single shooter killed several people Thursday and wounded others at a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, and police said a suspect was in custody. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A police officer stands guard outside the ABC studio, Thursday, June 28, 2018, in New York. The New York Police Department has sent patrols to major news media organizations in response to the shooting at a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The newspaper is part of Capital Gazette Communications, which also publishes the Maryland Gazette and CapitalGazette.com. It is part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group.

A police officer stands guard outside The New York Times building in New York on Thursday, June 28. The New York Police Department sent patrols to major news media organizations in response to shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The New York Police Department immediately deployed counterterrorism teams to news organizations around the city in a move police said was prompted not by any specific threat but was instead done as a precaution. Police could be seen outside The New York Times, ABC News and Fox News early in the evening.

President Donald Trump said his “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims of the shooting.

Trump said in a tweet that he was briefed on the shooting at The Capital Gazette before departing Wisconsin.

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He said, “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families” and thanked “all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene.”

California Sen. Kamela Harris said she was heartbroken by the shooting.

I'm heartbroken by the shooting at the Capital Gazette. Journalists play such a critical role in our democracy and too often face risk at home and abroad. My thoughts are with their family, their friends, and their paper.